Chapter 308 - Betrayed and Deserted by Everyone (1)
Chapter 308: Betrayed and Deserted by Everyone (1)
Zhao Youming’s words had completely shattered the last bit of hope in Li Hongyu’s heart. She looked away and let out a bark of laughter.
Initially, her laughter sounded suppressed. However, later, her laughter grew louder, except that her amplified laughter was filled with heartache and self-mockery, as if mocking herself for having plotting and scheming, thinking that she had always been his favorite person all these years.
Li Hongyu’s tears unwittingly streamed down on her cheeks while she was laughing.
“Mother…” Looking at Li Hongyu’s crying and laughing appearance, they did not feel good about it. This was especially so for Zhao Youxi.
She was different from Zhao Youming. Zhao Youming had been sent to various boarding schools and hardly stayed with Li Hongyu. She only met with Zhao Youming several times within a year. Zhao Youxi, on the other hand, had stayed by Li Hongyu’s side ever since she was young. She was stuck with Li Hongyu like superglue. Naturally, Zhao Youxi and Li Hongyu had formed a much closer bond compared to Zhao Youming. When Zhao Youxi saw Li Hongyu’s heart-breaking meltdown, she did not feel good either. Her hatred for Zhao Shuncheng and Zhao Youlin grew increasingly stronger.
After Li Hongyu had enough of laughing, she casually used her hand to wipe away the tears that streamed all over her face. She snorted, “I have always plotted and schemed for all my life. I schemed for men, finance, and status. Originally, I thought I had won the moment I became one of the members of the Zhao family, rising to the position as the madam of the house, and kicking Zhao Youlin out of the Zhao family. Never did I think… in the end… I lost… I ended up losing everything… Hahaha..!”
“Mother, Mother, stop laughing. I’ll get upset seeing you like this. You still have us. You’ve got us.” Tear marks were all over Zhao Youxi’s face. She pursed her lips as she looked at Li Hongyu. She could not help herself from sobbing.
Li Hongyu looked numb, as if she was immersing herself in her own world, and could not hear any voice from outside.
When Zhao Youming saw her in her current state, he could not help but heave a sigh. He turned his head around and said to Zhao Youxi, “Sis, please go out for a moment first. You and Mother are not emotionally stable yet. If you two come close together, the situation would only get worse. You may go out to breathe in some fresh air first, while I’ll talk to her alone. She needs to calm down as well.”
Zhao Youxi was stunned. Looking at Li Hongyu who was in a daze, she tried her best to hold back the tears that had welled up her eyes. She nodded reluctantly.
“Talk to her properly. Don’t agitate her anymore.”
“Okay, I know.”
Zhao Youxi cast a final glance at Li Hongyu before she rose up and left. At that time, little did she know that this would be her last meeting with Li Hongyu.
Right after Zhao Youxi departed, Zhao Youming’s eyes sparkled. His expression changed slightly.
“Mother…” Zhao Youming called Li Hongyu and whispered to her, “I heard that the police officers have had sufficient evidence on hands about you hiring contract killers to attempt on murder. They are now hesitating on how to give you a sentence.”
Right after Zhao Youming spoke, Li Hongyu’s lifeless and still eyes were once again lit up. She stared at the young lad opposite her, brightened with interest.
“The hiring of contract killers to attempt on murder is a serious charge. Even though no one was hurt or killed in the end, it has led to irrecoverable damage. You could at least be sentenced to two or three years in jail, and moreover, this case has also involved the Mu family and the Su family…”
Looking at Li Hongyu’s expressionless face, Zhao Youming heaved a sigh and continued, “I’ve conducted an investigation on this matter. It was the member from the Su family who had handed over your crime evidence to Eldest Uncle, and Eldest Uncle, in turn, passed over the evidence to the police officers. In this case, as long as anyone from these families were to have a hand in it, there is a high chance you will be sentenced for eight to ten years of jail, Mother.”
“What exactly do you want to say to me?” Li Hongyu’s face was as white as a ghost as she stared at the young man, who was looking indifferent. She totally could not relate her son, who had just comforted her so gently, to this person in front of her.
Zhao Youming swept a glance at Li Hongyu nonchalantly before he blurted out, “Mother, Father has severed ties with you and my elder sister, but not me.”
Li Hongyu’s entire body shuddered. She looked at Zhao Youming in bewilderment.
Zhao Youming met Li Hongyu’s gaze. He instinctively touched the earring on his right ear. He smiled faintly as he said, “Mother, you said you have failed miserably. In fact, you didn’t. You still have me. How could you possibly have been defeated?”
Looking at her son in front of her, who looked completely like a stranger to her, she could not help but quirked one of her eyebrows. “So?”
“Mother, you’ve fought for so many years. You didn’t want to admit that you’ve been defeated so miserably, and become a laughing stock for the rest of your life, right?” Zhao Youming looked at Li Hongyu profoundly. His expression remained the same, yet the words that came out of his mouth were incredibly shocking. “You could spend ten years of your life in prison, by the time you are released from jail, you would have wasted ten years of your life. In fact, your ten years gap is all blank but a criminal record. What else could you do by then? Instead of living in a borrowed time where you could not rise again, and would be looked down upon by everyone, instead of having to suffer like that, why don’t you…
“Completely vanish from this world?!” Zhao Youming narrowed his eyes, his almond-shaped eyes looked more cunning than those of a fox, and a glimpse of bone-chilling light flashed across them.
“Youming, you want to win, and become the top dog, huh?” Li Hongyu smirked, her gaze grew complicated as she looked at her son, whom she had high expectations of.
The corners of Zhao Youming’s eyes crinkled. “If possible, who wouldn’t want to triumph in this world? Who wouldn’t want to emerge as the top dog in this world? Mother, don’t you wish to become one too? If not for this purpose, why did you have to go through so much trouble? Why did you send me to the famous universities overseas and now, asking me to come home from abroad so anxiously? You did all this just because you don’t want me to lose to anyone, and so that I could always stand on the top where everyone has to look up to, right? If so, you should know well that something needs to be given up in order for me to climb higher.”
After taking a break for so many years, Zhao Youming knew that he was not inferior to anyone. However, he had been overseas for so many years and did not have a solid foundation in his home country.
If he wanted to rise steadily, he needed something or someone who could afford him with leverages. He needed capital instead of being forced to carry a stain or mark which could be criticized by everyone else at any time and anywhere.
Li Hongyu stared at Zhao Youming for a very long time. She abruptly let out a bark of laughter. Her laughter was filled with self-mockery and sadness. One who heard her laughter could not help but feel heartache for her.
“Good, good. You’re fantastic!”
Zhao Youming’s eyes sank. Looking at Li Hongyu’s nearly insane appearance, the corners of his lips curled upward, as he said, “Mother, it’s you who have taught me well. What I do now, I learned from you, Mother.”
Li Hongyu abruptly stopped laughing. Her gaze turned gloomy as she stared at Zhao Youming, she said coldly, “I could help to settle your worries, but I have a request.”
“What is your request?”
“Send your elder sister overseas. Send her out of this country which could cause her trouble as soon as possible,” Li Hongyu stared at the person opposite her as she gritted her teeth and said the words.
Zhao Youming’s hand was still resting on his right earlobe, he jerked his hand movement. He met Li Hongyu’s reddened eyes before he smiled and said mockingly, “Mother, at the end of the day, you still love my elder sister the most.”